The month of March is officially here so that means the regular season is nearing its end and the conference tournament is a week away. The Memphis Tigers have won two consecutive games and are in the driver’s seat for an NCAA Tournament berth. Currently sitting at second in the conference standings, the Tigers can clinch the No. 2 seed in the AAC tournament next week by winning their final two games against SMU and Houston.
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVR |
| 1 Houston Cougars | 15-1 | 27-2 | |
| Memphis Tigers | 12-4 | 3 | 22-7 |
| Tulane Green Wave | 10-5 | 4.5 | 17-9 |
| Cincinnati Bearcats | 10-7 | 5.5 | 19-11 |
| Temple Owls | 9-7 | 6 | 15-14 |
| Wichita State Shockers | 8-8 | 7 | 15-13 |
| UCF Knights | 7-9 | 8 | 16-12 |
| South Florida Bulls | 6-10 | 9 | 13-16 |
| East Carolina Pirates | 5-10 | 9.5 | 14-14 |
| SMU Mustangs | 5-11 | 10 | 10-19 |
| Tulsa Golden Hurricane | 1-16 | 14.5 | 5-23 |
Kendric Davis returned last week to provide the Tigers with a spark after Keonte Kennedy was ruled out with a broken hand. The collective efforts of Damaria Franklin and Johnathan Lawson helped offset the loss of Keonte Kennedy. Also, DeAndre Williams kept up his stellar play over the last month by earning his third AAC Player of the Week this season.
Tonight’s matchup at SMU is arguably a bigger game than the regular season finale against the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars on Sunday. The SMU Mustangs are 10-19 including 5-11 in conference play and will be a Quad 3 game for the Tigers. Simply stated, the Tigers can’t afford any bad losses as they have remained between the No 9 to No. 11 seed range of mock NCAA Tournament brackets throughout the last month, and falling to a team of SMU’s caliber could be enough to knock them out of the tournament.
The first matchup between the Tigers and Mustangs was played on January 26th at the FedExForum and dominated by the Tigers as they led by as many as 29 points en route to a 99-84 victory. That game also marked the first time that Kendric Davis played against his former team and he was firing on all cylinders as he scored or assisted on the Tigers’ first 20 points on the way to a 25-point, 11-assist night. His former teammate, Zhuric Phelps, led the Mustangs in that game with 20 points as the Mustangs did not give up after falling behind by 29 points as evidenced by the 15-point loss.
As mostly with any team that is having a rough season, playing spoiler becomes the next best thing to play for in these situations. Considering this will be Kendric Davis’s last game against his former team and in the Moody Coliseum, expect his former teammates to want to end his career with a loss in Dallas. If the Wichita State and Cincinnati games from last week are any indications, the matchup tonight at SMU will not be easy and the Tigers cannot get caught looking ahead to the Houston game.
The Prediction:
This is the ultimate “trap game” for the Memphis Tigers and the benefits of having a senior-laden lineup are for moments like this. The Tigers will have to begin this game as the enforcer and take out the Mustangs early to eliminate any chance of a scare to secure an important victory. March is officially here, so let the games begin!
Memphis 88, SMU 72
Matchup: Memphis Tigers (22-7, 12-4 in AAC) vs. SMU Mustangs (10-19, 5-11 in AAC)
Time: 8 p.m. CST
Location: Moody Coliseum, Dallas, TX
TV/Stream/Radio: ESPN2 / 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS